OCZ acquires SSD controller specialist Indilinx

OCZ, the ex-DRAM manufacturer that has turned its attention to the growing solid-state storage market, has announced the acquisition of fabless flash controller specialist Indilinx.

The deal sees OCZ spend just shy of £20 million in stock on the South Korean company, and it's almost certainly going to pay off: OCZ already uses Indilinx controllers in its Z-Drive line of PCI Express SSDs, so it knows what it's getting itself in to.

Indilinx's patents will also transfer to OCZ as part of the deal, giving the company a raft of intellectual property - including the rights to Tinkerbell, an eMMC 4.4 controller which will allow OCZ to start to branch out into the smartphone market.

"This transaction is an important step in OCZ's strategy and significantly enhances our ability to capitalize on the worldwide demand for Solid State Drives," claimed OCZ's Ryan Petersen. "This combination brings together two organizations that are committed to advancing solid state drive design, and provides a unique opportunity for OCZ to increase both customer and shareholder value as well as expand our reach into embedded markets."

Despite the acquisition giving OCZ in-house controller expertise, the company has confirmed that it will continue to buy in SSD controller modules from other manufacturers where such deals make sense - meaning it won't be moving away from the popular SandForce controllers for its upcoming Vertex 3 SSD family just yet.

Indilinx will continue to operate under the leadership of president Bumsoo Kim and chief technology officer Hyunmoo Chung as a wholly-owned subsidiary, and will remain a supplier to other SSD businesses. The company's 45 employees are also safe, OCZ confirmed today.

The acquisition reinforces OCZ's focus on SSD technology, which was never so obvious as at CeBIT this year, where the company demonstrated SSD models ranging from small-form-factor units to high-end enterprise gear - including the impressive 4TB Ibis XL tech demo platform.